Mail-catcher.



- R. R. ROTH.

MAIL OATUHEB. APPLICATION rmm r113. 24, 1908.

901,042. v 1 Patented Oct. 13,1908.

Mom tor,

To all whom it may concern: I

ROBERT RAY ROTH, OF EASTON, MARYLAND.

MAIL-CATGHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 13, 1908.

V Application filed February 24, 1908. Serial No. 417,449.

Be it known that I, ROBERT RAY ROTH, a citizen of the United States,residing at Easton,-in the county of Talbot and State of Maryland, haveinvented va new and useful Mail-Catcher, of which the following is aspecification. 1

This invention relates to mail catchers and is more particularlydesigned for use in connection with the mail delivering mechanismdescribed and claimed in an application filed by me on Dec. 26, 1907,Serial No. 408,096.

One of the objects of the invention is to provide means forsimultaneously actuating the releasing mechanism on the delivery craneand engage and support the released further object is to provide bagengaging means mounted to swing under the impulse imparted to it by themoving bag engaging therewith, there being mechanism employed, however,for initially retarding the rotation of the engaging means to insure theproper gripping of the bag.

A still further object is to provide means for automatically locking thebag against,

displacement after it has been delivered to the catcher.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certainnovel features of construction and combinations of parts which will behereinafter more fully described and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings is shown the preferred form of theinvention.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a perspective view of the mail catcher, aportion of the delivering mechanism being shown adjacent thereto. Fig. 2is a plan view of the mail catcher. Fig. 3 is an elevation of a portionof the crane and showing the pivotal portion of the revoluble armmounted thereon. Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the parts shownin Fig. 3.

Referring to the figures by characters of reference, 10 designates anarm connected to the wall of a car A and carrying a rock bar 22 fromwhich extends a tripping arm 24. This rock bar constitutes a keeper fora hinged supporting finger 27 designed to engage the ring of a mail bagor sack B. These parts constitute no portion of the present inventionbut are elements of the mail delivering mechanism covered by theapplication hereinbefore mentioned.

The mail catcher constituting the present improvements consists of astandard 34 which may be mounted on a platform 35 located adjacent thetrack. This standard has collars-36 and 37 arranged thereon andrevolubly mounted between these collars is a sleeve 38 formed at one endof an arm 39 which extends at right angles from the standard and isprovided with a double fork 40, such for example, as shown in Fig. 1which is designed. to engage a bag supported from the arm 10 whethersaid bag is approaching the fork from either direction. Anti-frictiondevices such as balls 41 are preferably interposed between sleeve 38 andcollar 37 so as to permit the arm 39 to readily swing in a circle as aresult of the impulse imparted to it'by the sudden contact of a movingbag with the fork 40. In order that this movement of the arm 39 may beinitially retarded to a sufficient degree to insure the proper grippinby fork 40 of the bag on the releasing mec anism of the car, a roller 42is interposed between sleeve 38 and collar 37 the same being located atone end of a spring 43 fastened to an extension 44 on collar 37. Thisroller is held projected by the spring 43 into a recess 45 formed in thelower face of sleeve 38. When the roller is thus positioned the arm- 39is' extended toward the track. A brace 46. preferably extends downwardfrom arm 39 and has a ring 47 at its free end which loosely embraces thestandard 34 and is designed to rotate thereon.

Pivotally connected to the outer or free end of each tine of the fork40is a retaining finger 48 held normally at right angles to thelongitudinal axis of the fork by means of a spring 49. These fingers areobviously arranged in pairs, the fingers of each pair normally aliningand practically meeting at their inner or adjoining ends.

The tripping arm 24 is designed to travel in a plane extending betweenfork 40 and standard 34 and in order that the same may be properlyactuated an arm 50 is extended from the standard and terminates in afinger 51 extending at an angle thereto and into the path of thetripping arm 24.

The normal position of arm 39 is at right angles to the direction ofmovement of the delivering mechanism. As heretofore stated the bag B isdesigned to be supported from the arm 10 and, as mentioned in myapplication hereinbefore mentioned, this bag will be released by turningthe rock bar 22 by means of tripping arm 24. When the deliveringmechanism approaches the mail catcher from either direction the bag Bstrikes the retaining fingers 48 and swings them inwardly until itescapes them and becomes seated within the fork, whereupon the fingerswill be returned to their normal positions by their springs 49 and thusprevent the bag from accidentally falling out of the fork. At the sametime the arm 24 is brought into contact with finger 51, and thusoperated to partly turn the rock bar 22 and release the bag. The impactof the bag against the fork 40 will cause the same to promptly swinghorizontally with standard 34 as a center and the released bag will thusbe swung away from the car. It is of course to be understood that roller42 bears within recess with sufficient force to hold arm 39 in placewhile the bag is being seated therein. When the bag B is brought intoposition within the fork 40 the force exerted thereby will be sufficientto swing arm 39 and cause roller 42 to become depressed and thus shiftedout of the recess 45.

What is claimed is:

1. Ina mail catcher the combination with a fork and a support therefor;of oppositely disposed retaining fingers mounted upon the fork, andresilient means for holding the fingers normally in position across oneend of the fork.

2. In a mail catcher the combination with a standard; of a forksupported thereby and mounted to swing therearound, said fork beinglocated constantly in the same plane of rotation, and spring controlledmeans for initially retarding the movement of the fork.

3. In a mail catcher the combination with a standard; of a forksupported thereby and mounted to swing in a circle therearound,

tarding the movement of the sleeve and fork.

5. In a mail catcher the combination with a standard and a sleeverevolubly mounted thereon; of an arm extending from the sleeve, a doublefork carried by the arm, and spring controlled bag retaining meansmounted upon and normally extending across ea eh end of the fork.

6. In a mail catcher the combination with a standard, a sleeve rcvolublymounted thereon, and means for holding the sleeve against verticalmovement; of an arm extending from the sleeve, a double l'ork earried bythe arm, spring actuated means for initiallyretarding the movement ofthe sleeve and fork, and an arm outstanding from and rigidly connected.to the standard.

7. The COII'llJlllfttiOll with delivering mechanism including a rock barand a tripping arm; of a standard, a fork supported thereby and mountedto swing therearouml, said fork being normally positioned in the path ofa bag supported by the delivering meehanisin, and an arm extending fromthe standard and into the path of the tripping arm.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

Witnesses:

E. LAMBERT, C. E. F ICKLE.

